Democrat Alan Dershowitz: Time to Move On & Stop Accusing Trump of a Crime For Exercising His Constitutional Authority

According to a number of officials leading the United States intelligence agencies, the Russian government did in fact meddle in the 2016 presidential election by creating fake news and flooding the internet with propaganda. According to the same officials, there is zero evidence to show a single vote was changed in the election and none to corroborate claims the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians to beat Hillary Clinton.

Regardless, the left has chosen to go after President Trump with claims he and his associates worked with Russian officials and obstructed justice by allegedly pressuring FBI Director James Comey to drop the investigation into the matter. Again, without evidence.

As we learned during Comey's testimony Thursday, he was not asked by the President to drop the FBI's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. He did believe President Trump asked him to "let go" of the FBI's criminal investigation of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, whether his authority as the man sitting in the Oval Office.

Now, Democrat Alan Dershowitz is coming to Trump's defense in an op-ed for Fox News and arguing the left must stop conflating the issue of Russian meddling with criminal wrong doing by the President. Further, he argues the claims of obstruction of justice are completely unwarranted.

In his testimony former FBI director James Comey echoed a view that I alone have been expressing for several weeks, and that has been attacked by nearly every Democratic pundit.

Comey confirmed that under our Constitution, the president has the authority to direct the FBI to stop investigating any individual. I paraphrase, because the transcript is not yet available: the president can, in theory, decide who to investigate, who to stop investigating, who to prosecute and who not to prosecute. The president is the head of the unified executive branch of government, and the Justice Department and the FBI work under him and he may order them to do what he wishes.

As a matter of law, Comey is 100 percent correct. As I have long argued, and as Comey confirmed in his written statement, our history shows that many presidents—from Adams to Jefferson, to Lincoln, to Roosevelt, to Kennedy, to Bush 1, and to Obama – have directed the Justice Department with regard to ongoing investigations. The history is clear, the precedents are clear, the constitutional structure is clear, and common sense is clear. Yet virtually every Democratic pundit, in their haste to “get” President Trump, has willfully ignored these realities. In doing so they have endangered our civil liberties and constitutional rights.

Now that even former Director Comey has acknowledged that the Constitution would permit the president to direct the Justice Department and the FBI in this matter, let us put the issue of obstruction of justice behind us once and for all and focus on the political, moral, and other non-criminal aspects of President T

I write this short op-ed as Comey finishes his testimony. I think it is important to put to rest the notion that there was anything criminal about the president exercising his constitutional power to fire Comey and to request – “hope” – that he let go the investigation of General Flynn. Just as the president would have had the constitutional power to pardon Flynn and thus end the criminal investigation of him, he certainly had the authority to request the director of the FBI to end his investigation of Flynn.

So let’s move on and learn all the facts regarding the Russian efforts to intrude on American elections without that investigation being impeded by frivolous efforts to accuse President Trump of committing a crime by exercising his constitutional authority.rump’s conduct.

Dershowitz also argued there are a number of concerning aspects surrounding President Trump's decisions and policies worth discussion, but until the left lets go of the false narrative he is a criminal, progress or real debate on important issues cannot proceed in any kind of meaningful way.